10 Impressive Characteristics Great Leaders Have

10 Impressive Characteristics Great Leaders Have

Great leaders come in all shapes and sizes, and they certainly aren’t limited to a particular industry or to Fortune 500 companies. A great leader can be anyone from a politician to the owner of a small cafe. However, despite the vast differences in professions and backgrounds, there are certain things that all great leaders have in common. The question is, do you see any of these qualities in yourself?

1. They Have a Positive Attitude

Great leaders know that they won’t have a happy and motivated team unless they themselves exhibit a positive attitude. This can be done by remaining positive when things go wrong and by creating a relaxed and happy atmosphere in the workplace. Even some simple things like providing cupcakes or beers on Fridays can make the world of difference. An added perk is that team members are likely to work harder and do overtime when needed if they’re happy and appreciated.

2. They Know How to Manage Failure and Set Backs

No matter how hard you try to avoid it, failures will happen. That’s okay; you just need to know how to deal with them. Great leaders take them in strides. They remain calm and logically think through the situation. They utilize their resources. What they don’t do is fall apart and reveal to their team how worried they are. This leads to negative morale, fear and binge-drinking under desks. Great leaders do in fact lead, even when they’re faced with setbacks.

3. They Take Responsibility

Great leaders know that when it comes to their company, work place or whatever situation they’re in, they need to take personal responsibility for failure. How can they expect employees to hold themselves accountable if they themselves don’t? The best leaders don’t make excuses; they take the blame and then work out how to fix the problem as soon as possible. This proves that they’re trustworthy and possess integrity.

4. They Develop Those Around Them

Any good leader knows how important it is to develop the skills of those around them. The best can recognize those skills early on. Not only will development make work easier as they improve and grow, it will also foster morale. In addition, they may develop some skills that you don’t possess that will be beneficial to the workplace. Share your knowledge with your team. Give them the opportunity to achieve. You will have their respect and loyalty if you do.

5. They Are Able to Delegate

No matter how much you might want to, you can’t actually do everything yourself. Even if you could, in a team environment that would be a terrible idea anyway. Good leaders recognize that delegation does more than simply alleviate their own stress levels (although that’s obviously a nice perk). Delegating to others shows that you have confidence in their abilities, which subsequently results in higher morale in the workplace, as well as loyalty from your staff. They want to feel appreciated and trusted. Just don’t delegate all of your work just so you can take a nap under your desk, unless of course you know you won’t get busted.

6. They Know How to Communicate

This is far more complex than it actually sounds. Good communication skills are essential for a great leader. You may very well understand the cave of crazy that is your brain, but that doesn’t mean that you can adequately take the ideas out of it and explain them to someone else. They can’t all be idiots if this problem seems to be a reoccurring one (well, probably not, anyway). The best leaders need to be able to communicate clearly with the people around them. They also need to be able to interpret other people properly and not take what they say personally. If this is an area you have difficulty with, a good jumping off point is encouraging communication between team members and establishing an open door policy. Perhaps not in the bathroom though. That would be weird.

7. They Exhibit Confidence

All great leaders have to exhibit an air of confidence if they’re going to succeed. Please don’t confuse this with self-satisfaction and arrogance. You want people to look up to you for inspiration, not so they can punch you in the face.

Confidence is important because people will be looking to you on how to behave, particularly if things aren’t going 100% right. If you remain calm and poised, your team members are far more likely to as well. As a result, morale and productivity will remain high and the problem will be solved more quickly. If you panic and give up, they will know immediately and things will simply go down hill from there. So be confident‒without being a jerk.

8. They Use Their Intuition

It’s safe to say that all great leaders will have to enter unchartered waters at some point during their career (figuratively, of course). Because of this, they have to be able to trust their intuition and draw on past experiences to guide them. In addition to this, they have to trust enough in their own intuition in order to guide their staff or team members.

9. They Have a Sense of Humor

It’s imperative for any kind of leader to have a sense of humor, particularly when things go wrong. And they will. Your team members are going to be looking to you for how to react in a seemingly dire situation. It would probably be best if you weren’t stringing up a noose for yourself in the corner. You need to be able to laugh things off, because if staff morale goes down, so will productivity. Establish this environment prior to any kind of meltdown by encouraging humor and personal discussions in the work place. After all, your workplace isn’t a Russian gulag. At least, I really hope it isn’t.

10. They Show Commitment

This has a double meaning, because I’m all deep and whatnot. Firstly, you need to stick to your commitments and promises. If you don’t you will come across as an untrustworthy leader and people won’t have any confidence in you. Secondly, you need to be the most committed and hard working person on the job. You need to lead by example. All great leaders do this. Why should your staff and team members give it their all if you don’t bother to? By proving your own commitment you will inspire others to do the same, as well as earn their respect and instill a good work ethic.

Tegan is a freelance writer from Australia who enjoys working in her pajamas and 1-Up mushroom beanie. Her passions include every variety of gaming known to man, history, food, geek culture, books, and her Siberian kitten, Khaleesi. She currently writes for Today I Found Out, Geek Insider and her own food history blog, Delicious History